Resource ConsentsTono whakaaetanga rawa taiao

Resource consent is permission to carry out an activity on a particular site that may have an effect on the environment. These activities might include anything from creating a subdivision or discharging wastewater, to moving earth or erecting a sign.

Lodging a Resource Consent

Before lodging a resource consent application, it is worthwhile discussing the application with the Wairoa District Council's planning department. This could help to avoid delays and help streamline the process. To make an appointment, phone (06) 838 7309.

If you are thinking about buying some land or a business, building, or subdividing land you might need to get a resource consent so it's a good idea to talk to your local city or district council first. Council staff can help you look through the relevant plans and work out whether you'll need a resource consent. If you do, then the council should also explain how to go about talking with people who might be affected by your project and preparing an assessment of environmental effects. They might also tell you to visit the Regional Council.

The council can process your consent with or without the general public being involved. Proposals that might have an effect on the environment that is "more than minor", or may adversely affect someone who hasn't given their approval are publicly notified. In reality, most resource consent applications are not publicly notified. Council staff will tell you whether or not your application will be publicly notified. Anyone can make a submission on applications that have been publicly notified and a public hearing is usually held to give applicants and submitters a chance to speak. Informal pre-hearing meetings may also be held. If you need consents from both a District or City and Regional Council the two Councils will probably decide to hear the applications together.

Councils are expected to process non-notified consent applications in less than a month and publicly notified applications in about three and a half months.

You can help to make sure your consent application is processed quickly if you:

Talk to the Council staff early on about what you want to do

Talk to people who you or the Council thinks might be affected by your proposal

Give the Council a well prepared assessment of the environmental effects

Respond quickly to requests for further information

Councils can decide to either grant or decline a resource consent. Usually when the council grant consents they also put some conditions on it. The council will also probably check that what you are doing is in line with your resource consent. This could mean that a council officer will visit the site, take some measurements or require you to monitor the activity. Councils also decide how long to grant resource consent for. Some consents (like subdivision) last forever, while others might only last a couple of years (for example a permit to take water from a river).

Councils will normally charge you an administration fee for considering your application, and they may also charge for monitoring.

If you're thinking about buying land or buildings it's worth asking the local city or district council for a Land Information Memorandum. This report will tell you what information the council has about that piece of land, including what the land can be used for under the district plan rules. If you want to check that an activity is okay under the council's plan you can ask the council for a certificate of compliance.

If you're doing something that requires a building consent, before you start building you can get a Project Information Memorandum which will also tell you if you need to apply for a resource consent.

Sonya and Malcolm want to build a home for themselves and a three storey bed and breakfast in a bay surrounded by native bush, which includes a row of pohutukawa trees along the beach. The only access to the bay is by private gravel driveway. The district plan says that land they want to build on has "high conservation values"

The Plan also says that while a one-storey building is okay, a three storey B&B is not. This is because it will affect the visual amenity of the landscape.

Sonya and Malcolm talk to the district council and find out that they'll need resource consent to building the B&B. The Council says they'll need to fill out an application form and complete an assessment of environmental effects to support their application. The assessment they give the council includes detailed plans of the development and shows how the buildings will be designed.

The district council publicly notifies the resource consent application and gets 20 submissions from a range of people worried about how the buildings will affect the landscape.

The district council holds a pre-hearing meeting. Sonya, Malcolm, their architect and the submitters all turn up. The submitters say they'd be happy if Sonya, Malcolm and the council guarantee that the B&B wouldn't be too visible from the other side of the Bay and that the plans include landscaping to hide the buildings from view. The meeting goes well and everybody agrees that a formal hearing won't be necessary.

The council grants consent, but adds a few conditions to it:

Sonya and Malcolm need to make sure that the buildings are designed, located and painted in accordance with the design plans.

Some extra planting and landscaping is carried out and the pohutukawa trees are not harmed in any way.

So while Sonya and Malcolm had to go back to the drawing board to change things a little everyone is happy that their concerns have been addressed and Sonya and Malcolm still get their house and bed and breakfast.

Reality Check

Sometimes things don't work out quite like this. For example, some submitters might decide to appeal the council's decision to grant resource consent. This would mean Sonya and Malcolm and the council would also have to go to the Environment Court to defend the decision made by the council.

Did you Know

About 48,000 resource consents are processed every year. On average only one percent of all decisions made on resource consent applications are appealed to the Environment Court.

On average five percent of all resource consent applications are publicly notified.

Making a Submission

Sometimes a Council will publicly notify a resource consent application. When this happens, anybody can make a submission. The council will consider all the submissions that it receives, together with the application and make a decision whether or not to grant the resource consent. To publicly notify a resource consent application the council puts an ad in the newspaper and a sign on the proposed site.

Mel lives in a small town surrounded by dairy farms. Like everybody else, she knows that the dairy factory on the road out of town is planning to expand. For 60 years, the wastewater from the factory has been treated and then piped into a river that runs through the town and out to the coast. The river sometimes smells bad and locals put that down to the discharge from the factory.

Mel reads a public notice on the factory site that says the factory wants to get resource consent from the regional council to increase the amount of waste going into the river. The council is asking anybody who's interested to make a submission by the end of August. Mel has a look at the application at the council offices. She then sends in her submission saying that she opposes the application because she thinks the extra discharge will make the odour problem worse. Mel says she's disappointed the application hasn't even addressed the existing odour problem. She wants the factory to do that as well as looking at extra treatment or other ways of disposing of its wastewater (such as spraying it on to land). Lots of other people in the town make similar submissions.

In October Mel goes to a public hearing at the council offices. The guy from the factory explains that they have looked at other disposal options, but they're too expensive and besides, the soil just isn't suitable for land based disposal. Mel talks to the council about her submission along with some of the other submitters.

In November, the council releases its decision. Mel gets a copy in the mail. The council accepts that other disposal options wouldn't work, but agrees with the submitters that the way in which the waste is treated needs to be improved. It gives a resource consent for the project, but only if the factory rebuilds its treatment plant to improve the quality of the discharge. The consent also says that the regional council will be monitoring the condition of the river and will require further work if the odour problem isn't fixed.

Mel is making a difference by having her opinion heard. By getting involved, Mel and the other submitters have been able to impact on the way the factory treats its wastewater.

New Zealand Planning Institute

Incorporated in 1949 as a Charitable Trust, the New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) is the professional organisation representing planners, resource managers, urban designers, and environmental practitioners throughout New Zealand. NZPI promotes professional excellence and works in partnership with planners to shape the future according to the changing and diverse needs of all New Zealanders.

The New Zealand Planning Institute produces an Online Directory to help the public identify a qualified Consultant in their region. Seeking the advice of a qualified professional is more likely to smooth the path, and achieve the desired outcome. To find Professionals in Planning, Design & the Environment visit www.planningconsultants.org.nz

Resource Consenting Fees

Resource Planning Fees and Charges approved for 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.

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